This
seminar examines the “third wave” of democratization in Latin
America, emphasizing the role of political institutions.Our initial meetings will introduce the
region, its history, and certain basic concepts.We will then focus on key political institutions
in Latin America: party and electoral systems,
executives, legislatures, and mechanisms for democratic accountability.After a mid-term exam and Spring break, we
will review some important contemporary issues and then examine the experiences
of nine problematic democracies in the region: Argentina,
Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela,
Mexico, Peru, Bolivia,
Guatemala, and El Salvador.The course concludes with a final exam and
submissions of term papers.

Registered auditors are welcome in the class.Please see
point 6 below.

Course
Policies and Requirements

1. Readings. The reading is intense during the first half of the
course, but then it tapers off, as students begin to focus on their term
papers. All required readings (except perhaps articles on current events) are
available on electronic reserve (E) or drawn from three core texts (T):

J. Mark
Payne, Daniel Zovatto G., Fernando Carrillo Flórez, and Andrés Allamand Zavala,
Democracies in Development: Politics and
Reform in Latin America (Washington,
D.C.: Inter-American Development
Bank and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance,
2002). Also on Print Reserve: Personal
Copy. (Note: you may use instead the
2006 Spanish version, available at http://www.idea.int/publications/dem_dev/sp.cfm.The 2006 English version should be available
sometime during the semester at the same web site.) (T)

I
have requested that all three texts be placed on print reserve (P) under the
call number indicated above.Nevertheless, you should purchase the Smith text and the volume edited
by Hagopian and Mainwaring.You may purchase
the Payne et al. text, download the Spanish version, or use the copy on print
reserve (P) until the 2006 edition is available online.I reserve the right to assign short articles
on current events.These will be placed
on electronic reserves, posted on Blackboard, or handed out in class.

Doctoral students will
also be responsible for the supplementary readings listed in the Course Outline
when they take the Ph.D. comprehensive
exams. These supplementary readings are also on
electronic reserve (E) or print reserve (P).

All seminar participants
will need to develop additional expertise on one or more Latin American countries
in order to complete the term paper.Expertise
on at least two Latin American countries is also essential for students
preparing for doctoral exams.The following
books have been placed on print reserve (P) because they contain useful
chapters on various Latin American countries:

Significant books and articles on specific
countries are far too numerous to be listed here.The bibliographies in the three core texts
provide excellent leads for developing country-level expertise.The following journals are especially useful
for articles or book reviews: Comparative
Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Current History (usually the
February issue), Journal of Democracy, Latin
American Politics and Society, and Latin American Research Review.

Important articles and book reviews on Latin America also appear in many other journals,
including

American
Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Bulletin of Latin
American Research, Democratization, Electoral Studies, Foreign
Affairs, Foreign Policy, Journal of Latin American Studies, Journal of
Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Party Politics, Perspectives on
Politics,

Política y
Gobierno, Political Research Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, Revista de
Ciencia Política, Studies in Comparative International Development, Third World
Quarterly, and
World Politics.

Please
note that the required and supplementary readings are only a very small and
highly selective sample of the vast literature on Latin American politics.They have been carefully chosen, bearing in
mind the themes of the course, the unfamiliarity of many students with the
region, and their relevance to the broader field of comparative politics.

2. Study Questions, designed to help you get
the most out of the readings and to stimulate discussion, will be posted on
Blackboard before most, if not all, classes.You should be prepared to answer these questions, to the best of your
ability, before coming to class.If
necessary, I will assign specific questions to seminar participants.

Study
questions for each class will be posted no later than 11 p.m. the previous Wednesday.I hope that I will be able to post materials
before this deadline most weeks.From
time to time, I will also post other ancillary materials on Blackboard.Only if there is a technical or human problem
with Blackboard will questions or other materials be distributed in class.

You
can access Blackboard by following these steps:

A. Type
the URL http://webcourses.niu.edu/ in the address box of your browser
(Internet Explorer works best) or go to the NIU homepage and click on "Students,"
and then "Blackboard" under "Quick Links" on the right.You can also access the “Blackboard Course
Server” with the A-Z feature of the NIU homepage.

For
any technical problems in accessing Blackboard, please call 753-8100.

3. Class Participation.Although some material is most efficiently
conveyed in short lecture segments, we will follow a seminar format as much as
possible.Thus, seminar participants are
expected to complete required readings and to be prepared to answer study
questions for each class.Class
participation will count for 20 percent of the final grade.In assessing class participation, I will
emphasize quality, rather than mere quantity.You should attend every class.Poor attendance or persistent tardiness will have
a negative impact on your participation grade.

4. Exams.The mid-term exam is scheduled for March 5.The final exam will be given on May 7.Both exams will be given in class and have a
closed-book, essay format.Thus, they approximate
the conditions of––and should serve as good practice for––the Ph.D.
comprehensive exams.A list of possible
questions will be posted on Blackboard no later than the Wednesday preceding
each exam.Questions selected from the
list will then appear on the exam.

Make-up exams will be given
only in the case of a documented medical or personal emergency.In such an event, Professor Schmidt (753-7039)
or the Political Science Office (753-1011) must be notified before the exam.

5. Term Paper.Each seminar participant taking the course for
credit will write a 15-20 page paper.There are three options:

(A) Configurative.Pick a Latin
American country.Evaluate the
performance and impacts of several key institutions during the third wave of
democratization.Do you have any
suggestions for change? Although your
analysis should be sensitive to the context of the particular country, the
primary emphasis should be on political institutions as independent, dependent,
or intervening variables.

(B) Comparative. Evaluate the origins
or impacts of a particular type of institution (e.g. electoral or party systems,
the presidency, congress) across two or more Latin American countries during
the third wave.Justify your selection
of cases, analyze similarities and differences, and extrapolate conclusions.

(C) Historical.Trace the
historical development of a key institution in a Latin American country from
independence or from its origin before the third wave.Analyze the causes and consequences of
continuity and change. (Note: sources in
Spanish or Portuguese may be necessary for this option.)

Under any of these options your
paper should be informed by the theoretical and comparative literature from
this class.It should also go beyond the
class discussion and required readings (e.g., see the additional sources under
point 1 above).In most cases, students
will find it advantageous to write on countries that we have emphasized in
class, but I am willing to consider papers treating other Latin American
countries, as well.Similarly, under Options
B and C I am willing to entertain papers that focus on types of institutions
that we have not emphasized in class (e.g. subnational governments, similar
sorts of informal institutions).

Seminar
participants are strongly encouraged to discuss their papers with me.All sources must be properly cited.I prefer APSA or APA style or some other
author/date system.I am, however, open
to other widely accepted styles (AMA, MLA) so long as the supporting sources
can be easily found and you are consistent.For illustrations, please consult the APSA Style Manual for Political Science (2001) or go to
http://www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citation.htm.

Papers
are due on May 7 at 4:30 p.m. in the main office.Late papers will be penalized 5 points for
each day of tardiness.I will not accept
papers that arrive after 4:30 p.m. on May 11.Please do not submit papers as e-mail attachments.

6. Auditors. Students who wish to audit this course are
welcome if they register for three hours of POLS 590 for the purpose of
auditing POLS 573k. Auditors are
expected to regularly attend class and encouraged to do the readings.They are also invited to participate in class
discussions if they have done the corresponding readings.

7. Course Grade.Class participation, the midterm
exam, and the final exam will each count for 20 percent of your final
grade.The term paper will account for
40 percent.

Course grades will be distributed as follows:

Final AverageFinal Grade

93% and aboveA

90-92%A -

87-89%B+

83-86%B

80-82%B-

70-79%C

60-69%D

Below 60%F

In grading, I will abide by the standards
adopted by the Political Science Graduate Committee. A grade of "A" is reserved for those
students whose written and oral work is of the highest quality: thorough,
creative, well-substantiated, insightful, and analytical."A" grades are earned by seminar
participants who understand that graduate education is to a large extent
self-education.During their graduate
careers these students will do much more than fulfill formal requirements.

A grade of "A-" can be earned by
seminar participants who demonstrate most, but not all, of the qualities listed
in the preceding paragraph.

A grade of “B+" is given for written and
oral work that demonstrates a good grasp of the material.

A grade of "B" indicates satisfactory
written and oral work.

A grade of "B-" is given to students
whose performance meets only minimal expectations at the graduate level.I will not recommend these students for the
Ph.D. program.

A grade of "C" means that the
student's performance is less than adequate for graduate study in the
Department of Political Science.This
grade will make it more difficult for the student to maintain the minimum 3.00
GPA needed to avoid academic probation and dismissal.

Grades of "D" and “F" are given
in those rare cases when a student makes little or no effort to meet the course
requirements.

8. Academic
Integrity.Seminar participants are
expected to comply with NIU and Department of Political Science policies
regarding academic integrity and plagiarism.Please see the NIU Graduate Catalog 2006-07 (pp. 20-21) and the
Department of Political Science Graduate Handbook (pp. 25-26).Any suspicion of academic misconduct will be
treated in accordance with university and departmental policies and procedures.

9. Adjustments in Course
Schedule.I will do my best to follow the course
schedule outlined below, but I reserve the right to make reasonable adjustments
with adequate warning if unforeseeable or uncontrollable circumstances (e.g.
weather, illness, travel) so warrant.It
is not fair, however, to change the schedule or previously set exam dates
simply to accommodate the preferences of some students, since other students
inevitably suffer.

10. Additional Information.Students should
become familiar with the department’s webpage which has course syllabi and
other useful information on the graduate program.

NIU abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
that mandates reasonable accommodations for qualified students with
disabilities.If you have a disability
please contact me early in the semester.If you have not already done so, you will need to register with the
Center for Access-Ability Resources (CAAR), which is located

on the fourth floor of the University Health Services
building (815-753-1303).